<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[British Retailer John Lewis Stops Stocking Ahava&nbsp;Products]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>PNN &#8211; Palestine News Network &#8211; 17.01.11 &#8211; 14:35				 			 					 			 				 London – PNN  &#8211; This week, leading British retail business John  Lewis is refusing to stock goods from Israeli cosmetics company  Ahava. Canadian retailer The Bay also confirmed that it has discontinued  sales of Ahava products.</p>
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<div class="mosimage" style="float:right;border-width:2px;"><img title="Image" src="https://i1.wp.com/english.pnn.ps/images/stories/2008/AHAVA.jpg" border="0" alt="Image" hspace="6" width="250" height="238" /></p>
<div class="mosimage_caption" style="text-align:center;">Ahava’s goods &#8211; Archive</div>
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<p>John  Lewis’ decision signifies yet another victory for the growing Boycott,  Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in Europe.  John Lewis’ Managing  Director, Andy Street, wrote to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in a  letter dated January 7:</p>
<p>“As a socially responsible  retailer, John Lewis takes very seriously the treatment of workers and  their working conditions. We expect all our suppliers not only to obey  the law, but also to respect the rights, interests and well-being of  their employees, their communities and the environment. In relation to  your specific enquiry about Ahava Dead Sea products, I can confirm that  John Lewis has ceased stocking these particular products.”</p>
<p>Ahava  Dead Sea Laboratories, an Israeli cosmetics company, has its  manufacturing plant and visitors center based in the Israeli settlement  of Mitzpe Shalem in the West Bank, considered illegal under internaional  law. The company is 44 per cent owned by Mitzpe Shalem and another  settlement, Kalia.</p>
<p>Sarah Colborne, PSC’s Director of Campaigns  and Operations, said, “PSC welcomes John Lewis’ decision to stop  stocking Ahava products. Israel’s continued attacks on the Palestinian  population – whether living under a brutal blockade in Gaza, under  illegal occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, or under  constant assault inside Israel, has led to a seismic shift in public  opinion, with the movement for peace and justice for Palestinians  gaining massive support internationally.”</p>
<p>There are  half a million Israeli settlers living in West Bank settlements like  Mitzpe Shalem and Kalia, in contravention of the Fourth Geneva  Convention, which prohibits transfer of civilian populations to  military-occupied territories.</p>
<p>In 2005, Palestinian  civil society issued a call for international boycott, divestment and  sanctions on Israel. PSC launched its national boycott campaign in 2002,  and supports bi-weekly protests outside an Ahava store in Covent  Garden, London.</p>
<p>Last year the Palestinian government  of Salaam Fayyad made a law prohibiting Palestinians from buying or  selling products made in Israeli settlements.</p>
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<p><a href="http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=9418&amp;Itemid=62">PNN &#8211; Palestine News Network &#8211; British Retailer John Lewis Stops Stocking Ahava Products</a>.</p>
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